Show me a good goalie, and I’ll show you a good coach….or something like that. Recently, I thought it would be fun to rank my coaches in the NHL.

I played for 9 different head coaches in my 10-year career. That’s right, 9!

Now, not everybody’s experience is the same, I can only share my personal journey in hockey. Some of my favourite coaches were not the most popular by others. It is very hard to appease 25 different personalities. You can not make everyone happy, and neither will this list.

Here’s my ranking of the coaches I played for throughout my career:

1. Kevin Dineen, FLA– by far my favourite coach I played for. Dino is a good man. Kevin had over a thousand games playing in the NHL. Kevin was awesome, we made the playoffs our first year with him. Unfortunately, the next season the team was riddled with injuries, a lockout and a sub-par start and that was it for Kevin. I found myself wanting to play for Kevin every night.

He was good to his players and he is a passionate coach. Not the best of the best with x’s and o’s but a guy you are willing to sacrifice and play hard for. A guy that rewards a good solid effort. And a guy that cares for and respects the players. Man Kevin was great, he would drink 50 RedBulls and BUZZ.  He still had that dog in him, that love of competing! He just wanted to be out there with the fellas. If a guy got hit he wanted the fight. Loved playing for him. I learned a lot about being a good teammate from Kevin.

2. Paul Maurice, WIN– a very good coach and a very good guy. Some of the best speeches I have ever heard came from Paul. He can really motivate a team. There is a lot of structure and expectations but always very fair. My last season playing I was healthy scratched most of the year. Although I may have hated it, I did think it was fair to the team. Many great young talented players there. And the right team was put on the ice each night. I really liked how Paul respected the players’ space.

He would come into the meal room head down not say a word and sometimes maybe a dry joke to lighten the room up and then back to the coaches’ office. He also was very approachable and a good listener with great advice in hockey as well as life. Very well received in the room by his players and I was one of them.             

3. Patrick Roy, COL– I really enjoyed playing for Patrick even though it was for 20 games. He was very passionate. I really enjoyed seeing him get fired up. He would have been a fun teammate, he just wants to win so bad!  I thought with all of my coaches, Patrick was the best at letting players voice their opinions. If you did not like the PK, you could voice your concern and we would listen and discuss it as a team in meetings. Most dialogue I have ever seen among players and coaches in meetings, so I thought that was cool. I really enjoyed hearing other players’ perspectives in meetings as it was a great communication tool.  And every morning skate was optional, and who doesn’t love optional skates?

4. John Tortorella, VAN– he’s an intense man but fair. The first time meeting him, he was in the Dallas visiting room, doing a million pushups and man, he had some energy. Gotta respect the intensity and that ‘dog’ in him. His stint in Vancouver was short but I respected the fact he was honest. One game I played 2 minutes the next day he pulled me aside and said I was garbage and to be better next game. Not in a negative threatening way at all. Just to be better.

And wouldn’t you know, the next game I did just that. As a player, you want a coach who is honest and fair and John was both of those things. Not to mention he gave so many days off and optional morning skates, which was amazing! And also encouraged his team to have fun off the ice with one another. I always liked going to battle with the guys and then having a beer with my teammates after and a coach supporting that was very cool!

5. Mike Babcock, TOR– although he may be notorious for playing messed up mind games with players, his preparation and attention to details are hard to ignore. He is a hard-working man. And I did learn a lot from him and I use some of those lessons in my teachings. But he does cross the line with players in my opinion. He was way too involved. Unlike Paul, Mike would hang out in the meal room and it felt like you could never get away from him. I remember seeing 15 guys in the Steam room. It was the only room you could get away from him.

Babs’ was not a good listener. Hard to listen when you are talking all the time. Someone with a background in sports psychology would maybe make you think it was a good thing. But someone with that background playing mind games with unsuspecting players is bush league. His weakness is his EGO! I do not think he is a very open-minded coach, in my opinion.                                             

6. Willie Desjardins, VAN– great guy, can not say a bad thing about the man. I have him ranked at 6 only because, well, the tough task of coaching in NHL is not for everyone.  A very well respected junior coach. He has developed many great players, and don’t get me wrong, my experience with him was great. I think Willie would be an amazing assistant coach in the NHL. He would be great for the players. Very easy to talk to and he cares for his players and entire staff.

7. Peter Horachek, FLA– nice guy with another small sample size. In the short time playing for him, much like Willie, I do think he would be a good assistant coach but not cut out for a head coaching job. But to be fair, both his head coaching stints he was the replacement midseason. Not an easy position to be in and probably was not totally a fair representation of how Peter would actually coach his team.

8. Jacques Martin, FLA- only went to 1 camp and played 4 regular-season games for him before heading back to junior. The sample size is not there to rank him any higher.

9. Peter DeBoer, FLA–  By far the worst head coach I played for. Now being fair, I will say I have heard through the grapevine, that when he was fired from Florida, he changed his ways towards players (part of the reason he was fired in Florida). And I heard guys in Jersey and San Jose liked him. However, that does not excuse his behaviour in Florida. Another big ego. No respect for players unless you were Brian McCabe (can’t blame him Caber was a warrior). As far as systems go, he was pretty solid and well structured. He actually does put a solid program together, can’t take that away from the man. But the way I saw him talk to players… I am actually just shaking my head at how he acted while writing this. To use fear as a motivator is wrong. To speak to players the way he did was wrong. It is alarming to think back at his behaviour. No prior NHL experience just OHL, and it showed.

Writing this ranking, and reflecting on my experiences, makes me believe the coaching fraternity needs a shakeup. Too many dinosaurs. Look at the world we live in! A lot has changed in the last few years. Is it crazy to think that maybe some of these coaches in the game are out of date? As a coach, you are the captain of the ship. A good coach leads a good example. Many of those coaches did just that. And watching what the Leafs are doing,  I find it amazing what Dubas and Keefe are doing.

Changing the game for the better! The game was very different from when I started to now. But I am also aware people change, and grow, and here’s to hoping coach’s like Deboer are better coaches today and coaches like Roy and Dineen are back in the NHL, sooner than later.

There are two types of coaches – a player’s coach and then, let’s just call them, company men.